Kim, San Diego AddedSaturday, September 6, 2014 at 5:40 PM Does mechanical engineering require physical strength? I'm studying to be a mechanical engineer, but my dad keeps telling me that I'm not strong enough (I'm pretty short and small) and that I won't succeed. I tell him that mechanical engineers aren't the same as mechanics, and we have all sorts of machines to help us do things now, but he seems to think I don't know what I'm talking about. Is he right? Is there a lot of physical labor involved? Or are there certain jobs that will require different amounts? Related to Mechanical, Work Environment Reset Sort By Default Zahra Khan , Columbus Technologies and Services Answered Saturday, September 6, 2014 at 5:40 PM Dear Kim, Your dad may be confusing mechanical engineers with mechanical engineering technologists. Many mechanical engineering jobs are desk jobs. Even for jobs involving experiments,you'll have technicians available to help. So definitely don't worry about that.